This invention relates to a knee panel for a front seat and a knee panel mounting structure for a vehicle and, more particularly, to improvements in a knee panel located under an instrument panel for protecting a driver and a passenger riding on a front seat, and in a knee panel mounting structure for a vehicle.
The conventional knee panel of this type is designed, as shown in FIG. 7a, to have a simple convexly bent panel 100 fixed to a dash panel 102 by utilizing mounting frames 101 or as shown in FIG. 7b, to have a convexly bent panel 104 reinforced with a reinforcing member 103 to form a closed cross section. The knee panel of the type shown in FIG. 7a cannot be mounted on a number of mounting frames 101 due to the arrangement of auxiliary components for a cooler unit or the like. The knee panel of the type shown in FIG. 7b has a preferable reinforcing effect.
Further, the conventional knee mounting structure is in most cases designed, as shown in FIG. 11, to have a dash panel 102, a bracket 105 for mounting a brace fixed to the dash panel 102, a dash brace 101 secured to the bracket 105, and a knee panel 100 fixed through the dash brace 101 to the bracket 105.
One disadvantage of the conventional knee mounting design structure is that the distance from the dash panel 102 to the secured position of the knee panel 100 is relatively long, creating the disadvantages of an increase in the weight and loss of the mounting members. A further disadvantage is that the dash brace 101 cannot be properly arranged when a cooler unit 106 is located under the instrument panel.